Ayman al-Zawahiri said a film made in the United States mocking Mohammad showed Washington was waging a "crusader Zionist war" against Muslims and called for more protests at American embassies. Zawahiri praised last month's attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi that killed four diplomats but stopped short of claiming responsibility.In the recording, posted on Islamist websites on Friday, he called on "free and distinguished zealots for Islam" who attacked the consulate and protested at other American embassies to "continue their opposition to American crusader Zionist aggression against Islam and Muslims". The recording appeared on the Mujahedin al-Ansar website which carries statements from al Qaeda leaders.
Zawahiri said U.S. authorities "permitted the film in the name of personal freedom and freedom of expression" but did not practice those values in its treatment of Muslims imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Zawahiri also criticized Obama after his Democratic Party pledged at its pre-election convention to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital. He said that decision and Obama's prayers at Jerusalem's Western Wall, made during a 2008 visit, showed Muslims faced a "crusader Zionist war" led by the United States.